UMUR
"Come Down Cold" is the fourth full-length studio album by Danish death/groove metal act Konkhra. The album was released through Diehard Music in September 1999. It´s the successor to "Weed Out the Weak" from July 1997. American guitarist James Murphy (Death, Obituary, Cancer, Testament...) has returned to perform lead guitars on the album and bassist Lars Schmidt has also returned to the fold after not performing on "Weed Out the Weak". Per M. Jensen (Invocator, The Haunted) has replaced Chris Kontos (Machine Head, Attitude Adjustment) on the drums. Lead vocalist/guitarist Anders Lundemark completes the quartet lineup.
The shift from playing death metal to playing a more groove ladedn thrash metal style was already initiated on "Weed Out the Weak" and it´s continued here. Although a few death metal traits remain, they aren´t many, and at this point Konkhra can be labelled groove/thrash metal and their closest relative is Machine Head. Konkhra unfortunately don´t have the songwriting skills nor the money to achieve a massive, heavy, and meaty sound production like the American influences have always had, so "Come Down Cold" soon comes off a pale copy of Machine Head and groove/thrash in general.
Murphy´s solos are as always well played, but they don´t always fit the mood of the songs, and the whole thing sounds a bit detached. Generic heavy groove riffs, drums which lack the groove this type of music needs (and they have an annoying tone and placement in the mix too), and tame raw throaty vocals. This is as tedious as groove/thrash metal can get and without a shred of anything unique, this isn´t exactly a recommendable release. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.